Status Symbol or Protection (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Defense and Security
Prelims level: SPG Act
Mains level: Different categories of security status

Context:

• The Special Protection Group cover which was given to Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh was replaced with the ‘Z Plus’ security of the Central Reserve Police Force as decided by the Home Ministry.

What are the aims and objectives of SPG Act, 1985?

• It was introduced in the wake of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1985.
• The Special Protection Unit (SPU) to provide protection to the Prime Ministers was recommended by Birbal Nath Committee.
• The law initially did not include protection to the former Prime Ministers and thus the protection was withdrawn when Rajiv Gandhi stepped down as the Prime Minister.
• The act was amended to offer protection to all former PMs and their families for at least 10 years following Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination.
• “An Act to provide for the constitution and regulation of an armed force of the Union for providing proximate security to the Prime Minister of India and former Prime Ministers of India and members of their immediate families and for matters connected therewith.”
• The Act was amended again in 2003 to bring the period of automatic protection from 10 years to “a period of one year from the date on which the former prime minister ceased to hold office” and thereafter based on the level of threat as decided by the government.

How are the threat perceptions decided?

• The Home Ministry takes the decision based on inputs from intelligence agencies, which include the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing.
• The intelligence inputs largely give a subjective measure of threat to life or injury to a person from terrorists or any other group, based on information from their sources.
• The inputs from all sources are incorporated, assessed and the decision is made in a very precise and transparent manner based on the logical need and the threat faced by the individual.

The different categories:

• The X category entails one gunman for the protection of the individual.
• The Y category allows for two police personnel, one for mobile and one for static plus four for rotation.
• The Z category allows for six gunmen for mobile security and two for residence security, while eight are for rotation purposes.
• The Z+ category entitles 10 personnel for mobile security and two for residence security while eight are for rotation purposes.

Challenges ahead:

• The carefree allotment of security causes a huge drain on the resources of the state.
• It has to be kept in mind that this is at the cost of public security and public welfare.
• Security allotment has to be made realistic.
• The allotment has to be on the basis of actual need and requirement instead of on the whimsical imagination and ambition of a person.

Conclusion:

• It is the job of the state to analyze and give protection to a person who needs it, as security is a matter of utmost importance.
• We have to move towards a more politically mature system of allotment of security for an individual instead of setting it as a parameter for social status. SPG is a distinctive force that is made for a
  specialized role and shouldn’t deviate from that.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to ‘NISHTHA’, which of the following statements is/are NOT correct?
1. It was launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in August 2018.
2. It is the largest industrial training programme in the world.
3. Its objective is to motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1, 2 and 3 only
D. 3 only

Answer: A
Mains Questions:
Q.1) What are the aims and objectives of SPG Act, 1985? How are the threat perceptions decided? What are the challenges ahead?